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Answers to WTFWTK 2.67!

Mattel has once again provided answers to your questions.
Thanks again to them for taking the time to answer these!
Check out their answers to your Round 66 questions!

This round of questions were selected by dorrmann.
Thanks to that fan for their help!

-------------------

1. bskcase: Now that vehicles are on the table, would you guys include 200X and NA vehicles as well?

Certainly! But I have a feeling the team will be interested in the key vintage vehicles first.

2. Shecky: Now that it has been acknowledged that those who purchased Battleground Teela were overcharged on shipping fees, what are the plans to rectify this?

We are still reviewing this particular issue. Nothing has been announced or acknowledged but we are reviewing any issues on a customer by customer basis.

3. AdultCollector: Would Mattel consider cancelling a figure if all indications pointed to unexpectedly low sales of said figure? Related to this, is feedback from conventions or other events Mattel participates in used to gauge fan interest and to make decisions related to the direction of the MOTUC toy line?

Usually by the time fans see a figure we are well into production, so no, negative feedback would not likely cause us to make changes so far as to cancel a figure. Occasionally we can make slight deco changes (as we did with BA Skeletor's feet) but that is about the limit of change we can affect once a figure has been revealed!

4. slackrguy: Are any of the 30th Anniversary characters going to be in the 2012 mini-comics?

Yes, all of them (except for the new context winner) will be including the Fearless Photog. This is being done to both help cement these new characters in the MOTU world as well as provide shield art for the card back bios! They won't be the stars of the book, but we are making sure they each get at least a panel or two for card bio art.

5. General Hawk 7: Starla's face at SDCC was beautiful. We bought subscriptions. Now her face has been changed for the worse as shown at Power-Con (please see link). What will be done to remedy this problem?

From Toy Guru:
"I've explained this one a few times on the boards of He-Man.org and Mattycollector.com, but happy to repeat here.
The Star Sisters samples shown at Power Con were FAR from final. These were our first paint samples back from Hong Kong. Much like the Whiplash example we showed in our "how toys are made" panel at Power Con, when the first paint samples come back we make tons of comments to get them back on model to the Horsemen original. There was no change to her face or sculpt, you are just seeing a still in development toy that is being tweaked and worked on. In hindsight, perhaps we will only show final product or the Horsemen originals going forward at all conventions to avoid any quality control questions on in progress samples."

Great news about the vehicles!!! Vintage are more likely to be released earlier but NA and 200X are considered as well!
Vintage - all of them
200X - Skeletor's Ram Chariot, War Whale, Attack Squid for me please.
NA - Astro Sub, Bola Jet, Terra Pod, Shuttle Pod, Tharkus and Dread Tread for me please.

Uh-oh @ all 30th anniversary figures being featured in the mini-comics!

I'm glad of this. I think it's an obvious and great idea. I'm sure there will be detractors, but since their bios are to help string together diverse and sometimes unrelated stories, this will certainly not hurt the overall plot the bio's are building and the Comics are bridging.

Glad to have official representations of them in actual published media.

------

asking about canceling a figure because some people arent interested is an insulting concept. Even if it's a sub, if anyone is interested in a character, ect, they should have their chance. If some people dont like a fig, there are ways. I dont expect to like every character but this many years in, we know the score.

I'm glad of this. I think it's an obvious and great idea. I'm sure there will be detractors, but since their bios are to help string together diverse and sometimes unrelated stories, this will certainly not hurt the overall plot the bio's are building and the Comics are bridging.

Glad to have official representations of them in actual published media.

I think it's probably a good idea...I just meant "uh-oh" because of some reactions I know will be coming.

It will be really interesting to see how they work them in. It might just be in a massive, two page fight scene or something (kind of like the 80's Eternia poster).

Take part in Illumina Day! Let people know who she is and help get her in MOTUC.

i'm already dreading the posts about how mighty spector ruined the mini-comic for people.

am i right in thinking that if you want a refund on the postage overcharge then you are going to have to ask for it and they'll hand them out individually? that really annoys me, they know they overcharged but aren't going to give the money back unless you complain. (unless i've misunderstood it)

I hate to say it but I'm not keen on the 30th Anniversary characters being in the mini-comics. If they were totally new comics then it would be ok but these are based on a vintage story outline, admittedly it was unreleased, but we still know those characters wouldn't have been in it. I suppose if their just background characters it will be ok but if their used to drive the plot at all it will just seem like they've been shoehorned in to me, and with Spectors time travel abilities I suspect he'll be used in the plot.

But saying that I'm sure the comics will still be awesome and I'm really glad we are getting them

I think showing us progress samples at cons is a good thing and a great way for Matty to work with fans to create a better final product. Imagine if we didn't see an progress sample of the Faceless One, he would have come out with his inner hood purple which looked terrible. But because we got to see a progress sample at a con, we requested to change to colour to black, Matty listened and this resulted in a much better final figure There are lots of examples of this like recently with the griffins wings.

1. bskcase: Now that vehicles are on the table, would you guys include 200X and NA vehicles as well?

Certainly! But I have a feeling the team will be interested in the key vintage vehicles first.

It's great to know that ALL vehicles are on the table. Still, I wonder if they'll cheapen out on motorized vehicles, or delay forever the more complex concepts...

2. Shecky: Now that it has been acknowledged that those who purchased Battleground Teela were overcharged on shipping fees, what are the plans to rectify this?

We are still reviewing this particular issue. Nothing has been announced or acknowledged but we are reviewing any issues on a customer by customer basis.

I guess the central word in that answer is "NOTHING", isn't it ?

3. AdultCollector: Would Mattel consider cancelling a figure if all indications pointed to unexpectedly low sales of said figure? Related to this, is feedback from conventions or other events Mattel participates in used to gauge fan interest and to make decisions related to the direction of the MOTUC toy line?

Usually by the time fans see a figure we are well into production, so no, negative feedback would not likely cause us to make changes so far as to cancel a figure. Occasionally we can make slight deco changes (as we did with BA Skeletor's feet) but that is about the limit of change we can affect once a figure has been revealed!

Translation : "We'd still prefer to bring the line's demise due to poor sales than making our fans happy !" Shame on you, mattel !

4. slackrguy: Are any of the 30th Anniversary characters going to be in the 2012 mini-comics?

Yes, all of them (except for the new context winner) will be including the Fearless Photog. This is being done to both help cement these new characters in the MOTU world as well as provide shield art for the card back bios! They won't be the stars of the book, but we are making sure they each get at least a panel or two for card bio art.

Uh-oh... I can already smell the stench of Spector "saving the day" in some way in those comics, or Fearless Photog defeating Clawful and Whiplash ! Maybe the comics won't be that great, after all.

In hindsight, perhaps we will only show final product or the Horsemen originals going forward at all conventions to avoid any quality control questions on in progress samples.

Translation : "We don't want to be annoyed by some embarrassing fans' questions and remarks. Also, we don't want flaws to be noticed. Just spend your hard-earned money and buy our damn' figures (even though they may come with crappy execution, assembly, paint apps etc.) !"

No surprise . It seems as if they just want this issue to go away without anyone raising a big fuss over it.

Since I'm the one that asked that question which was then answered, I have a big issue with the fact that they say that "nothing has been acknowledged" which is an outright lie.

Just wanted to let everyone know that we’re aware there was a weight discrepancy on Battleground Teela that may have affected her shipping cost. Her weight has been adjusted for today’s sale, and we are looking into resolving the issue for those that purchased Teela during our original sale.

"Not acknowledged", huh? I don't know where or how the phrase that's been popping up on the boards lately ("taken for the ***") came from, but it seems to fit this scenario at least. A big reason why I didn't subscribe for 2012 was due in large part to the ridiculous shipping fee of $13+ for one figure shipped via UPS Ground. It was (and still is for me anyway) $8.80, but this year I got hit with taxes per figure which adds $2+ dollars to the price. So add the $4 plus dollars that was raised for the shipping fee next year, I was basically looking at paying over $35 just for one figure ! And let me add this, just for poops and giggles. Just to check what the overall shipping fee would be for 10 figures, the overall shipping fee was $15 and change. So let me get this straight:

Hmmm. So it seems like the whole notion of spreading out the "A-list" stuff to extend the life of the line doesn't apply to the vehicles.

I think at most they will do 1-2 a year, so there is probably less of a worry of burning through them and move of a worry of getting to them all. It would be nice to mix it up a little though, I love me some of those NA vehicles.

From Toy Guru:
"I've explained this one a few times on the boards of He-Man.org and Mattycollector.com, but happy to repeat here.
The Star Sisters samples shown at Power Con were FAR from final. These were our first paint samples back from Hong Kong. Much like the Whiplash example we showed in our "how toys are made" panel at Power Con, when the first paint samples come back we make tons of comments to get them back on model to the Horsemen original. There was no change to her face or sculpt, you are just seeing a still in development toy that is being tweaked and worked on. In hindsight, perhaps we will only show final product or the Horsemen originals going forward at all conventions to avoid any quality control questions on in progress samples."

or you can add a card with "work in progress" on it

the King needs his Queen and pet! Queen Veena and Battle Lion for MOTUC!

On the other hand, Toy Guru was right, they should perfect the figures as a much as possible before getting them out there. This would avoid some of the dust ups while perhaps creating others — fans would die, if they had to wait two months before a new figure reveal.

Last edited by Alexxandar; November 2, 2011 at 04:31pm.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost

I am sorry, but I cant see any significant difference in the inbedded link of the Star Sister. Can someone point out what the gripe is? Thanks.

People were saying that the eyes were crossed or some bull. The major difference, of course, is the painted flesh on the left and the unpainted flesh on the right...but you know, that's pretty much standard when you move from prototype plastic to production plastic. 'Course that wasn't a production figure, but it's the plastic they use on production figures.

Biggest problem is the angle of the pic. That and insanity, 'cause those eyes don't look crossed AT ALL to me. So I can only assume that some folks were just insane. Only explaination.

"Since you got here by not thinking, it seems reasonable to expect that, in order to get out, you must start thinking." ~ Tock, the Watchdog

Alexx has a blog?! Come on in and check out Toys and Tomfoolery! You won't regret it...until the next morning.

Shiny, unpainted face (and unpainted hair) were the only things I would like to see improved on Starla. If she was looking forward instead of up, that would be fantastic as well. I don't think her eyes were ever cross eyed though. I never saw that. *shrugs*

Last edited by Darkspecter; November 3, 2011 at 04:34pm.

Take part in Illumina Day! Let people know who she is and help get her in MOTUC.

People were saying that the eyes were crossed or some bull. The major difference, of course, is the painted flesh on the left and the unpainted flesh on the right...but you know, that's pretty much standard when you move from prototype plastic to production plastic. 'Course that wasn't a production figure, but it's the plastic they use on production figures.

Biggest problem is the angle of the pic. That and insanity, 'cause those eyes don't look crossed AT ALL to me. So I can only assume that some folks were just insane. Only explaination.

Rather be "insane" than make ignorant comments like you.

At MATTYCOLLECTOR.com, 'ALL SALES ARE FINAL'...UNLESS it's in THEIR ADVANTAGE to not be...